Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw hailed the pivotal performance from his pack after picking up the Man of the Match award following his side's 34-10 victory over Italy at Murrayfield.

The Scots ran in four tries through Tim Visser, Matt Scott, Stuart Hogg and Sean Lamont but Laidlaw pin-pointed the contribution from the forwards as his side celebrated snapping a four-game losing streak.

"Absolutely brilliant," Laidlaw told BBC Sport. "There have been tough times for fans - this one's for them. "We had to do the dirty work. I'm fortunate enough to pick up the man-of-the-match but that's because the forwards did their job."

Scotland's interim coach Scott Johnson said: "I liked our intent. I think straight from the start we were aggressive. We had our chances and we scored off them. But that all means nothing if we cannot come here in two weeks and do it again (against Ireland)."